Cold Ash Quarry
Site of Special Scientific Interest
View towards Cold Ash Quarry
Cold Ash Quarry is located in Berkshire
Cold Ash Quarry
Location within Berkshire
LocationBerkshire
Grid referenceSU 500 714[1]
Coordinates51°26′20″N 1°16′55″W / 51.439°N 1.282°W / 51.439; -1.282
InterestGeological
Area0.4 hectares (0.99 acres)[1]
Notification1984[1]
Location mapMagic Map

Cold Ash Quarry is a 0.4-hectare (0.99-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Newbury in Berkshire.[1][2] It is a Geological Conservation Review site.[3][4]

The quarry is unique in Britain for the collection of fossil plants and insects which occur in a layer of silt and clay within the Reading Beds. The fossils date to about 60 million years ago. The fossil flora consists of well-preserved angiosperm leaves, in some of these fossils there is evidence of the activity of contemporary leaf-miner insects. This is the only location in Britain at which fossil leaf-miner activity have been discovered.[5]

The site is private land with no public access.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Cold Ash Quarry". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Map of Cold Ash Quarry". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Cold Ash (Palaeoentomology)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Cold Ash (Tertiary Palaeobotany)". Geological Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. ^ "SITE NAME: COLD ASH QUARRY" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
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